Northern Rough-winged Swallow
Stelgidopteryx serripennis
Summary 5
The northern rough-winged swallow (Stelgidopteryx serripennis) is a small, migratory swallow. It is very similar to the southern rough-winged swallow, Stelgidopteryx ruficollis.
Subspecies 6
Six subspecies of the northern rough-winged swallow are currently recognized.
It has been proposed that another race be recognized, aphracta, but this is debated. This race is apparently described as being darker above with a greyer throat compared to serripennis. It has been described to occur in the western Great Basin region, in the United States.
Description 6
Adults are 13–15 cm (5.1–5.9 in) in length, brown above with white underparts, a small bill, and a forked tail. Their throat is a white with a brownish-grey wash, and below the throat are its white underparts. The adults have a wingspan of 27–30 cm (11–12 in) and a weight of 10–18 g (0.35–0.63 oz). The males' under tail coverts are longer and broader than that of the females. The males also have hooked barbs on the outer web of their outer primary wings. The barbs on the females are shorter and straighter than that of the males. Juveniles can be distinguished from adults by their reddish-brown wing-bars.
They are similar in appearance to the bank swallow, but have a dusky throat and breast. They are closely related and very similar to the southern rough-winged swallow, Stelgidopteryx ruficollis, but that species has a more contrasting rump, and the ranges do not quite overlap.
The call of this swallow is described as a short, harsh zeep. It has also been described as a rough, low bzzt. It is often doubled. This call is similar to the call of the bank swallow.
Behaviour 6
The northern rough-winged swallow usually nests by itself, although it sometimes is found in loose groups, often at the edge of bank swallow colonies, of up to 25 pairs. The nests are found in burrows located in soil banks, very occasionally caves and trees, and in human-made cavities such as gutters and tubes. These burrows are usually built by other species, and measure anywhere from 20 to 200 centimetres (7.9 to 78.7 in) in length, although most fall between 30 and 100 centimetres (12 and 39 in). They are at a height of around .2 to 30 metres (0.66 to 98.43 ft) above ground-level. The nest itself is built by this species, and is built with a variety of fibres, including grasses, leaves, rootlets, twigs, bark, and pine needles. Moss and dung is also used. The nest is then lined with grass. These materials are wholly or almost wholly collected by the female.
The breeding season generally extends from May to about mid-July, but this varies by region. In north-eastern North America, the breeding season starts at about mid-May, while it starts in early June in the north-west, with both ending in August. In the southern parts of its range, this bird lays its eggs earlier; from mid-April to mid-May in Costa Rica.
The northern rough-winged swallow lays a single clutch, although sometimes another clutch is laid if the first one fails, of four to eight glossy white eggs that measure about 20 by 14 millimetres (0.79 by 0.55 in) on average. It has been observed that the clutch size decreases with decreasing latitude. These eggs are incubated by the female for 16 to 18 days. Because the female starts incubating as soon as the first egg is laid, the eggs hatch asynchronously.
The northern rough-winged swallow migrates to the Gulf Coast of the United States and south to Central America for winter. They have also been recorded to winter in the Caribbean.
When the breeding season is finished, they usually form large flocks and roost together in marshes and similar environments. Sometimes, in perverse weather conditions, several of these swallows can be seen to share a burrow.
When foraging, their flight paths are low and direct. They fly with slow, deep wingbeats interspersed with periods of gliding. It usually feeds over water and occasionally over land. They are insectivores, feeding almost exclusively on flying insects. Although this is true, there is a report of some feeding on cracked corn. To drink, they skim the surface of the water with their wing and then drink on their wing.
Distribution 6
The northern rough-winged swallow is native to Bahamas, Belize, Canada, Cayman Islands, Costa Rica, Cuba, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Puerto Rico, Saint Pierre and Miquelon, Turks and Caicos Islands, and the United States. They are vagrant to Aruba, Barbados, Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba, Curaçao, Dominican Republic, Guadeloupe, and Sint Maarten. The populations in the US and Canada have been found to winter in the southernmost US and further south. While this is true, the populations in Mexico and further south seem to be non-migratory, although local post-breeding movements do occur. This swallow has been found to occur as high as 2,500 m (8,200 ft) in Costa Rica.
Status 6
The northern rough-winged swallow is classified as least concern by the IUCN. Although its population is declining, it is not declining fast enough nor is its range small enough to justify a classification of vulnerable. In addition, this species is estimated to be composed of about 15 million individual birds, so it is not vulnerable under the population size criterion. This swallow has been found to adapt well to humans and sometimes nests in artificial cavities created by them.
Sources and Credits
- (c) Jerry Oldenettel, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://www.flickr.com/photos/7457894@N04/4585482964
- (c) Tony Iwane, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Tony Iwane
- (c) John Beetham, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by John Beetham
- (c) Don Loarie, some rights reserved (CC BY), https://www.flickr.com/photos/loarie/14021143749/
- Adapted by Desmon M Dunn from a work by (c) Wikipedia, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stelgidopteryx_serripennis
- (c) Wikipedia, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_rough-winged_swallow
